I’ve been loosely following the whole Coco Austin and Ice T sex tape scandal and I’m not sure if I should feel sad for Coco, and subsequently her husband Ice T, or chalk this up to just a matter of chickens coming home to roost?

I know that there is a delicious irony in seeing a former rapper and self-professed pimp, who made a career of objectifying women including his first wife, now wallow in the same subjugating cess pool he had once championed. However, it is hard for me to celebrate when there is the exploitation of another woman at afoot, even if she is not the beacon of women progression we hope for.

For all intents and purposes, Coco, born Nicole Austin, is the manifestation of everything that is wrong and chauvinistic with our culture. Not only was her entire image birthed out of a desire to appease the male gaze but more specifically, her entire packaging has co-oped and capitalized on a certain bottom heavy aesthetic, which has largely been synonyms with black women. The anomaly of being a white girl with a booty has provided Austin with opportunities that women with dark hues and more genetically natural curves are not afforded, particularly a starring role in a Vegas show. The mainstream sees Austin’s naughty girl routine as bubbly, vivacious and of course, sexay. However those same descriptives are rarely found or used when discussing your average video vixen. In the latter, we are suppose to feel nothing by pity and sympathy for them. Last I checked nobody was offering Karrine “Superhead” Steffans a show anywhere and her sexual posturing is probably more authentic than Austin’s carbon copy in platinum blonde. But I guess when you are white, it will get it done. Hat tip to Jen the Pen…

However the angst over Austin’s hot persona pales in comparison to the sheer ridiculousness that is the Ice-T/Coco’s relationship – or at least the relationship they play out in front of cameras. There is no doubt that the couple loves playing up the whole pimp ho dynamic, And who can blame them? The entire pimp culture has been glamorized through not only Ice T’s music but through films like The Mack and Dolomite. The two have even gone as far as to dress in the attire at a recent award show. But while the Tees revel in the romanticized version of pimping, mainly the bedazzled pimp cups and barely there attire, real life girls (and some boys) are being sold against their wills into prostitution and used as sex slaves. In fact the average age for a girl recruited into the sex trafficking industry is only 12 years old. Fact of the matter is that pimp culture, violence and sexual abuse and manipulation are intertwined. And the sexual domination of mostly women and children by men is probably not the healthiest image you want to promote as man and wife.

This, of course, leads me to the sex tape, which is being shopped around from some rapper, who no one has ever heard of. And perhaps that the point of getting the tape out there. Name recognition, mainly at the expense of a woman, whose own image is clearly not of her own making nor benefit. Case in point, check out how Ice-T responded when he found out about his wife’s Vegas follies. First he publicly chastised his own wife and then he addressed the “haters:”

Don’t worry about me… Worry about earthquakes and hurricanes.. I got this. It’s not about the come up…. It’s all about the comeback!Everyone with opinions about MY personal life.. Can ‘Eat a Hot Bowl of D-cks’ Check YOUR b-tch.My wife checks 100k a week….. Worry about your broke ho….. Not your b-tch. Not your concern.

In all this grandstanding and boosting, however, are there any words directed at the guy in question, even after he has threatened Ice T with physical violence? In the end Ice T still gets to maintain his role as the pimp in the situation while Austin, who had to apologize publicly to her husband for her “indiscretions,” bares the brunt of what often befalls those classified as the product. It would seem that it is only cool and respectable when Austin embodied the free-wheeling, sexay girl persona just as long as the beneficiary was Ice T, her husband. But being sexually free and public for herself? Well now, that is just flat out hoe-ish. I guess whoever said pimping wasn’t easy must never thought about what it is like to be the hoe.

Comment Disclaimer: Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN

http://www.yourtango.com/users/cheekee-baby cheekee baby

I don’t know about the “sistas” but I can assure you I don’t give Ice-T or his wife a passing thought in the course of my normal life so I don’t care if they stay together or not. LOL.

I’m commenting on an article on a website that I frequent nothing more. Do you think the success of Ice-T’s and Coco’s marriage is a referendum of your desirability as a black man? Does him being in a relationship with a white women give you a sense of pride and make you feel like a valued member of society? Does her wanting him and remaining loyal to him mean your life as a black man improves? Help me to understand where you are coming from with your post. You’re all over the place and appear to take this personally.

http://blackonpurpose.blogspot.com/ gryph

that a cute microscope tactic you used there, cheekee. we do know that there is a popularity politic to images in the media. your side-step doesn’t change that.

well i’m commenting on and reacting social dynamics, and if you are honest with yourself, you are too.

me in particular ‘no’ to all three of your questions. but is it a ‘real’ social dynamic? for sure.

i’ might be all over the place,but you’ve fallen into a contradiction. your initial comment was about things not being important unless they influence us personally. now it’d be wrong to take something personally?

JTerry

They’ve been married for years. Coco chooses to dress the way she does. If she cheated, she was wrong. I like their show; they seem like a cool couple who genuinely love each other. But nobody knows what REALLY goes on in their house or relationship but them. This article seemed to be more about opinion than anything, but I guess that was the intent.

JaneJane

Hoes be winnnnninnng! Either people hate Ice T or feel as if this grown tale woman is a victim…even black women seem to want to excuse and protect white women! Really, where is this sympathy when sisters need it! Mirror???

ijs

I don’t think she did it. I mean, I agree that she came from the build-a-body workshop but why would she be cheating with, for lack of a better word, SCRUB. (shrugs)

http://twitter.com/TheBayarean The Bayarean

This article is about as real as it gets. I appreciate the raw honesty you provided, minus any sugar coating. You reap what you sow, and although I always feel sorry for a woman who is exploited, I can’t help but tie in the outside factors that are at play here, which you properly stated in the article above. While my sympathy prevents me from making snap judgements, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire……

http://www.facebook.com/key.ankhamen Key Ankh Amen

hope his azz gets that package from that skank….

LoLz

I am a bit confused. It seems to me like this article is saying that since CoCo dresses like a ho and has a Vegas ho show that it should be ok to actually be a ho? Ice shouldn’t have made any comments about it. That is between he and his wife. If her husband wanted a public apology in order for him to forgive her indiscretion then that is what needs to happen if she wants to continue the marriage. She was wrong to cheat. Point blank. Period.

Kim

This was a wonderful article. Thanks for pointing out the important issues. Everything is not ok

Betty

The article would have better if the author had actually explained the situation coherently without so many tangents. I have no idea what she is even talking about.

Guest

the author should have used another plarform to state their opinion about objectivity… she cheated…he’s mad but he wants us to mind our business…that’s all this is about. i adored them as a couple…but i live and learn…spots are spots…and stripes are stripes *shrugs

http://www.facebook.com/monicafay Monica Fay

good lord, who EDITED this article? what a mess

http://www.yourtango.com/users/cheekee-baby cheekee baby

Good article. It hit home what the point really is. Coco epitomizes that in which black men want when they date a white girl, a trophy that can be paraded out and admired but she better not have a personality, likes or dislikes, or dare I say it an opinion.

What’s really going on is their age difference is starting to show. She’s making money independent of him, and when that starts happening you start smelling yourself. I give them another year or two before she jumps on the first bigger and better thing that will have her. As she should because he would do the same to her.

Yvette

If their relationship doesn’t last, I doubt that she will immediately jump into another committed relationship. She strikes me as someone who will be all about that single life for a good while. I hope it works out for them.

http://www.yourtango.com/users/cheekee-baby cheekee baby

Perhaps. Most women like her are not leaving their lifestyle unless they are stepping into a bigger and better one. The second she becomes viable outside of her relationship with him is the second she bounces. She’s a relatively young woman and probably wants kids with a man young enough to help her raise them.

ibdw2

Huh? This article was confusing to me. Why is Coco a victim? She’s a grown woman and knows what she is doing. Everyone should be responsible for their own actions. Why would you commit adultery? The bible says you reap what you sow.. there is always a consequence for every action. Maybe she felt she wasn’t going to be found out.. I don’t believe that Ice-T is pimping his wife. I believe they have a loving relationship.